Over the last few months, the LSE has been putting on a series of events on sustainability and practice; offering not just a space for the discussion of ideas but how to translate those ideas into practical intent. Last week I went to a lecture by Anne Power, a lecturer in housing and social exclusion at the LSE, as well as a one time member of the governments’ urban taskforce. Anne Power used her expertise to answer the question: ‘how can we save 80 per cent of our energy use in existing homes’? This is the governments’ target for energy use reduction in our buildings by 2020. Her approach was straight to the point, and why not? She felt she had the experience and knowledge to simply answer the question, so that’s what she did. I enjoyed this refreshingly bold approach where it soon became apparent that, with a little will power and government support, many of the solutions were, in fact, absolutely within reach.
Anne began with a very simple but pertinent point made disarmingly clear with a few facts. In any given year, existing homes, as opposed to new builds, will account for over 99% of all homes. New builds will always only ever be a small percentage of the total housing stock. It is estimated that even by 2020 over 85% of the housing will be the same as that currently existing. These facts alone speak a simple truth that in order to substantially reduce the total energy use of our homes, by far the most crucial task is to refurbish the homes we have already rather than building new ones, even if they are ‘greener’. I was very happy to see Anne take this simple point as the starting point for her talk as I heard this same bit of common sense being expressed by a member of the audience at a previous talk on creating carbon zero housing and it struck me as being so obviously vital. Interestingly, as an expert on housing issues, Anne backed up her argument for focusing on refurbishment rather than new builds by talking about the material waste and social disruption of the demolition of housing estates, which are almost always unpopular amongst local residents.
So if refurbishment is the answer, how can we do it? This question is both practical and political. Practically, Anne demonstrated the ease of dramatically reducing the energy use of existing homes with a little investment. There are 20 million drafty doors and windows in the UK. Double glazing, curtains, and even simply using a layer of cling film over a window can all help keep the heat we use in. We know this, we can fix it and it doesn’t cost much. Heating could be turned down in our homes to the temperature we seemed to be happy with a few decades ago. If we turned our thermostats down from 20C to 17C we would use a remarkable third less in energy. Walls, lofts and basements can be insulated with cheap materials, dramatically reducing the heat that escapes from our homes.
Of course, although comparably inexpensive compared to building new homes, this does all cost money. Who will pay? Why would they pay? Where are the incentives? This is where the question is political and where easy solutions are perhaps a little harder to come by. However, in terms of incentives for homeowners there is an encouraging economic logic. Over a few years, the upfront costs of insulating your house will be paid back in terms of reduced energy bills. What is needed is for this information about the advantages of refurbishment to reach home owners. The only problem here however is that the initial upfront costs may prove to be simply too much for some people or enough of an immediate disincentive to make it easy for people to leave carrying out the work for ‘another day’. So how can the long term incentives of refurbishment be harnessed? How can the upfront costs be financed? Surely here is a role for government loans – an ‘energy grant’ or even subsidy for lower income households. However there are also property owners that may be less easily persuaded. What is the incentive for the over 2 million private landlords to refurbish their properties? They tend not to pay the energy bills. They do not live in the often old and drafty buildings they rent out. Where the incentives do not exist, surely they need to be created by subsidy or controlled by regulation.
However we are reminded that there are many energy saving measures that can be achieved without the kind of upfront costs that many find difficult to afford. A drafty window doesn’t necessarily need expensive insulation work or replacement with double glazing. Anne explains how just adding a pair of old curtains or covering a window pane with cling film can also make a massive difference. These are hardly expensive measures. I for one am going to stop writing now, and go and ask my grandma about those spare curtains she has, for my own drafty Victorian flat…
All photographs and videos courtesy of Tate Shots except where otherwise stated.
Back in 2002 whilst still a skint student, cheapest I started what was then my idea of a dream job: ticket seller atTate ModernandTate Britain. I got to see great art and even meet the odd artist or two. I remember Gustav Metzgerinsisting he paid to seeBarnett Newman, and Tony Ourslersuccessfully blagging a freebie to the Turner Prize. Bridget Riley even gave us a personal tour of her exhibition. Fast forward five years and I’ve landed a job helping Tate Media launch a new video podcast:TateShots. These days I produce and commission the TateShots series, in which we interview artists about the business of making art, and talk to famous gallery-goers about their favourite art shows. The job has given me the opportunity to nervously meet heroes of mine likeJeff Koons,Laurence Weinerand Martin Creed, as well as artists I’m less familiar with but who become firm favourites.
We’ve made 150 episodes of TateShots so far, and it now comes out weekly. This week we launched a new strand calledSound & Vision. The series took the films’ director, Nicola Probert, and I, all over the country to interview musicians who make art. Billy Childish,Lydia Lunch, Mark E Smith, David Byrne,Jeffrey LewisandCosey Fanni Tutti all helped us with our enquiries about where art and music collide.
Jared Schiller with Jeff Koons
Billy’s interview was probably the most memorable. We filmed him in a cramped bedroom he uses as a studio in his mum’s house in Whitstable, surrounded by stacks of paintings. There was hardly enough room for him to paint, let alone for us to film. Billy’s musical and artistic reputations arguably couldn’t be more different. As a musician he is cited by bands likeThe White Stripes as an influence – his dedication to lo-fi recording and performance make him the very definition of authentic. On the other hand, as an outspoken critic of conceptual art, his standing in the art world is a little harder to pin down. Because of this big difference, Nicola had the idea to get Billy to interview himself. So Artist Billy asked Musician Billy questions (e.g. “Do I have an influence on you?” Answer: “No.”), and explains how he went through a ten year stretch of only painting to the music of John Lee Hooker (almost). The whole experience made me think that it’s only a matter of time before Billy Childish is unmasked as the ultimate conceptual artist…
Going forward I would love to make more videos about pop stars with a taste for art. Before we embarked on this series we had already spoken toAlex James from Blur about Ellsworth Kelly, and John Squire from the Stone Roses about Cy Twombly. Apparently Jay-Z is a massive Richard Princefan, so perhaps he should be next on my list.
Jared Schiller photograph courtesy of Simon Williams/O Production
What Jared likes:
Places: Moel-y-Gest, a hill near Porthmadog in North Wales
Food: Pizza. My dream is to build a pizza oven in my back garden. It will never happen but I keep hold of the dream..
Drink: AnIslay Whisky is the perfect late night tipple.
Books: Currently reading ‘Then We Came to an End’ by Joshua Ferris. I mainly have a weakness for any kind of exhibition catalogue or artist’s monograph.
Film: I’m looking forward to Chris Morris’s ‘Four Lions’.
Shop: Alter 109 is a really good men’s boutique in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Back in 2002 whilst still a skint student, order I started what was then my idea of a dream job: ticket seller atTate ModernandTate Britain. I got to see great art and even meet the odd artist or two. I remember Gustav Metzger insisting he paid to see Barnett Newman, ed and Tony Oursler successfully blagging a freebie to the Turner Prize. Bridget Riley even gave us a personal tour of her exhibition. Fast forward five years and I’ve landed a job helping Tate Media launch a new video podcast: TateShots. These days I produce and commission the TateShots series, viagra sale in which we interview artists about the business of making art, and talk to famous gallery-goers about their favourite art shows. The job has given me the opportunity to nervously meet heroes of mine like Jeff Koons,Laurence Weiner and Martin Creed, as well as artists I’m less familiar with but who become firm favourites.
We’ve made 150 episodes of TateShots so far, and it now comes out weekly. This week we launched a new strand calledSound & Vision. The series took the films’ director, Nicola Probert, and I, all over the country to interview musicians who make art. Billy Childish, Lydia Lunch, Mark E Smith, David Byrne, Jeffrey Lewis and Cosey Fanni Tutti all helped us with our enquiries about where art and music collide.
Billy’s interview was probably the most memorable. We filmed him in a cramped bedroom he uses as a studio in his mum’s house in Whitstable, surrounded by stacks of paintings. There was hardly enough room for him to paint, let alone for us to film. Billy’s musical and artistic reputations arguably couldn’t be more different. As a musician he is cited by bands like The White Stripes as an influence – his dedication to lo-fi recording and performance make him the very definition of authentic. On the other hand, as an outspoken critic of conceptual art, his standing in the art world is a little harder to pin down. Because of this big difference, Nicola had the idea to get Billy to interview himself. So Artist Billy asked Musician Billy questions (e.g. “Do I have an influence on you?” Answer: “No.”), and explains how he went through a ten year stretch of only painting to the music of John Lee Hooker (almost). The whole experience made me think that it’s only a matter of time before Billy Childish is unmasked as the ultimate conceptual artist…
Going forward I would love to make more videos about pop stars with a taste for art. Before we embarked on this series we had already spoken to Alex James from Blur about Ellsworth Kelly, and John Squire from the Stone Roses about Cy Twombly. Apparently Jay-Z is a massive Richard Prince fan, so perhaps he should be next on my list.
What Jared likes:
Places:
Food: Pizza. My dream is to build a pizza oven in my back garden. It will never happen but I keep hold of the dream..
Drink: An Islay Whisky is the perfect late night tipple.
Books: Currently reading ‘Then We Came to an End’ by Joshua Ferris. I mainly have a weakness for any kind of exhibition catalogue or artist’s monograph.
Film: I’m looking forward to Chris Morris’s ‘Four Lions’.
Shop: Alter 109 is a really good men’s boutique in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
SHIFT Encounters was put together by the organisation Cape Farewell. Founded by David Buckland in 2001, medicine Cape Farewell has sought to move beyond the scientific debate of climate change by involving artists in provoking and engaging the public. I like this approach; it seems to be a really important way to start thinking more positively about how we respond to climate change and look to the future. It is often so easy to be mired in the worrying statistics that we forget that the future is not set on a fixed, view predetermined path, buy information pills but is something that, with a little imagination, we can shape and plan. Artists can help us make this leap.Illustrations by Diana Boyle of Rooftop Illustrations
Last week I went to see the talk on architecture, bringing together practicing architects, lecturers and a technical consultant. The panellists were well chosen, each bringing to the table their own perspective and expertise so the discussion was refreshingly lively and the kind of group-think around an issue where everyone is already in agreement and no progress is made was happily avoided.
A wealth of arresting facts was presented. Any initial doubt about the importance of architecture when thinking about climate change was quickly dispelled with the striking estimate that over half of the energy used in the UK is through our buildings. Architects were keen to point to the importance of the users of buildings as well as the designs in achieving energy efficient architecture. Office workers have become accustomed to buildings using energy to maintain a constant temperature throughout the day (through heating and air conditioning) rather than regulating this themselves by putting on, or taking off, a jumper. So part of the change required is in people’s minds as well as the brick and mortar.
Perhaps most interesting were the personal stories told. One architect recounted how after an environmental assessment of their offices, he was shocked to discover that 60% of the energy use was outside of working office hours. This was due to the amount of energy required to maintain the servers which were left on constantly. Such surprising results show, I think, the usefulness of such assessments in getting our response to energy use in proportion. For example, we take care in changing light bulbs to energy efficient ones when perhaps we might be better off worrying about the massive amounts of energy needed to heat unused rooms.
The most enjoying part of the talk, however, was the audience’s contribution to the discussion. Once the debate was opened up, the focus quickly moved away from a preoccupation with the office environment, towards much broader questions. These were both more difficult and more exciting to attempt to answer. How is it possible to achieve the cultural shift required to reduce energy use in our homes? Should this shift be regulated by the government or is the only way through localised self organisation?
Provocatively, one disarmingly simple question was posed to the architects. Why talk about all these high profile new ‘zero-carbon’ building developments when what we need to do is not build more, but make the housing stock that we already have more efficient? I think this question cut to the heart of the debate and helped to illuminate some of the forces in play in trying to create more sustainable architecture. Whilst less glamorous than iconic new developments, and certainly a more tricky investment proposition, increasing the efficiency of the buildings we have already would surely be the most effective way of reducing the total energy use of our architecture.
All photographs and videos courtesy of Tate Shots except where otherwise stated.
Back in 2002 whilst still a skint student, cheapest I started what was then my idea of a dream job: ticket seller atTate ModernandTate Britain. I got to see great art and even meet the odd artist or two. I remember Gustav Metzgerinsisting he paid to seeBarnett Newman, and Tony Ourslersuccessfully blagging a freebie to the Turner Prize. Bridget Riley even gave us a personal tour of her exhibition. Fast forward five years and I’ve landed a job helping Tate Media launch a new video podcast:TateShots. These days I produce and commission the TateShots series, in which we interview artists about the business of making art, and talk to famous gallery-goers about their favourite art shows. The job has given me the opportunity to nervously meet heroes of mine likeJeff Koons,Laurence Weinerand Martin Creed, as well as artists I’m less familiar with but who become firm favourites.
We’ve made 150 episodes of TateShots so far, and it now comes out weekly. This week we launched a new strand calledSound & Vision. The series took the films’ director, Nicola Probert, and I, all over the country to interview musicians who make art. Billy Childish,Lydia Lunch, Mark E Smith, David Byrne,Jeffrey LewisandCosey Fanni Tutti all helped us with our enquiries about where art and music collide.
Jared Schiller with Jeff Koons
Billy’s interview was probably the most memorable. We filmed him in a cramped bedroom he uses as a studio in his mum’s house in Whitstable, surrounded by stacks of paintings. There was hardly enough room for him to paint, let alone for us to film. Billy’s musical and artistic reputations arguably couldn’t be more different. As a musician he is cited by bands likeThe White Stripes as an influence – his dedication to lo-fi recording and performance make him the very definition of authentic. On the other hand, as an outspoken critic of conceptual art, his standing in the art world is a little harder to pin down. Because of this big difference, Nicola had the idea to get Billy to interview himself. So Artist Billy asked Musician Billy questions (e.g. “Do I have an influence on you?” Answer: “No.”), and explains how he went through a ten year stretch of only painting to the music of John Lee Hooker (almost). The whole experience made me think that it’s only a matter of time before Billy Childish is unmasked as the ultimate conceptual artist…
Going forward I would love to make more videos about pop stars with a taste for art. Before we embarked on this series we had already spoken toAlex James from Blur about Ellsworth Kelly, and John Squire from the Stone Roses about Cy Twombly. Apparently Jay-Z is a massive Richard Princefan, so perhaps he should be next on my list.
Jared Schiller photograph courtesy of Simon Williams/O Production
What Jared likes:
Places: Moel-y-Gest, a hill near Porthmadog in North Wales
Food: Pizza. My dream is to build a pizza oven in my back garden. It will never happen but I keep hold of the dream..
Drink: AnIslay Whisky is the perfect late night tipple.
Books: Currently reading ‘Then We Came to an End’ by Joshua Ferris. I mainly have a weakness for any kind of exhibition catalogue or artist’s monograph.
Film: I’m looking forward to Chris Morris’s ‘Four Lions’.
Shop: Alter 109 is a really good men’s boutique in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Back in 2002 whilst still a skint student, order I started what was then my idea of a dream job: ticket seller atTate ModernandTate Britain. I got to see great art and even meet the odd artist or two. I remember Gustav Metzger insisting he paid to see Barnett Newman, ed and Tony Oursler successfully blagging a freebie to the Turner Prize. Bridget Riley even gave us a personal tour of her exhibition. Fast forward five years and I’ve landed a job helping Tate Media launch a new video podcast: TateShots. These days I produce and commission the TateShots series, viagra sale in which we interview artists about the business of making art, and talk to famous gallery-goers about their favourite art shows. The job has given me the opportunity to nervously meet heroes of mine like Jeff Koons,Laurence Weiner and Martin Creed, as well as artists I’m less familiar with but who become firm favourites.
We’ve made 150 episodes of TateShots so far, and it now comes out weekly. This week we launched a new strand calledSound & Vision. The series took the films’ director, Nicola Probert, and I, all over the country to interview musicians who make art. Billy Childish, Lydia Lunch, Mark E Smith, David Byrne, Jeffrey Lewis and Cosey Fanni Tutti all helped us with our enquiries about where art and music collide.
Billy’s interview was probably the most memorable. We filmed him in a cramped bedroom he uses as a studio in his mum’s house in Whitstable, surrounded by stacks of paintings. There was hardly enough room for him to paint, let alone for us to film. Billy’s musical and artistic reputations arguably couldn’t be more different. As a musician he is cited by bands like The White Stripes as an influence – his dedication to lo-fi recording and performance make him the very definition of authentic. On the other hand, as an outspoken critic of conceptual art, his standing in the art world is a little harder to pin down. Because of this big difference, Nicola had the idea to get Billy to interview himself. So Artist Billy asked Musician Billy questions (e.g. “Do I have an influence on you?” Answer: “No.”), and explains how he went through a ten year stretch of only painting to the music of John Lee Hooker (almost). The whole experience made me think that it’s only a matter of time before Billy Childish is unmasked as the ultimate conceptual artist…
Going forward I would love to make more videos about pop stars with a taste for art. Before we embarked on this series we had already spoken to Alex James from Blur about Ellsworth Kelly, and John Squire from the Stone Roses about Cy Twombly. Apparently Jay-Z is a massive Richard Prince fan, so perhaps he should be next on my list.
What Jared likes:
Places:
Food: Pizza. My dream is to build a pizza oven in my back garden. It will never happen but I keep hold of the dream..
Drink: An Islay Whisky is the perfect late night tipple.
Books: Currently reading ‘Then We Came to an End’ by Joshua Ferris. I mainly have a weakness for any kind of exhibition catalogue or artist’s monograph.
Film: I’m looking forward to Chris Morris’s ‘Four Lions’.
Shop: Alter 109 is a really good men’s boutique in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
SHIFT Encounters was put together by the organisation Cape Farewell. Founded by David Buckland in 2001, medicine Cape Farewell has sought to move beyond the scientific debate of climate change by involving artists in provoking and engaging the public. I like this approach; it seems to be a really important way to start thinking more positively about how we respond to climate change and look to the future. It is often so easy to be mired in the worrying statistics that we forget that the future is not set on a fixed, view predetermined path, buy information pills but is something that, with a little imagination, we can shape and plan. Artists can help us make this leap.Illustrations by Diana Boyle of Rooftop Illustrations
Last week I went to see the talk on architecture, bringing together practicing architects, lecturers and a technical consultant. The panellists were well chosen, each bringing to the table their own perspective and expertise so the discussion was refreshingly lively and the kind of group-think around an issue where everyone is already in agreement and no progress is made was happily avoided.
A wealth of arresting facts was presented. Any initial doubt about the importance of architecture when thinking about climate change was quickly dispelled with the striking estimate that over half of the energy used in the UK is through our buildings. Architects were keen to point to the importance of the users of buildings as well as the designs in achieving energy efficient architecture. Office workers have become accustomed to buildings using energy to maintain a constant temperature throughout the day (through heating and air conditioning) rather than regulating this themselves by putting on, or taking off, a jumper. So part of the change required is in people’s minds as well as the brick and mortar.
Perhaps most interesting were the personal stories told. One architect recounted how after an environmental assessment of their offices, he was shocked to discover that 60% of the energy use was outside of working office hours. This was due to the amount of energy required to maintain the servers which were left on constantly. Such surprising results show, I think, the usefulness of such assessments in getting our response to energy use in proportion. For example, we take care in changing light bulbs to energy efficient ones when perhaps we might be better off worrying about the massive amounts of energy needed to heat unused rooms.
The most enjoying part of the talk, however, was the audience’s contribution to the discussion. Once the debate was opened up, the focus quickly moved away from a preoccupation with the office environment, towards much broader questions. These were both more difficult and more exciting to attempt to answer. How is it possible to achieve the cultural shift required to reduce energy use in our homes? Should this shift be regulated by the government or is the only way through localised self organisation?
Provocatively, one disarmingly simple question was posed to the architects. Why talk about all these high profile new ‘zero-carbon’ building developments when what we need to do is not build more, but make the housing stock that we already have more efficient? I think this question cut to the heart of the debate and helped to illuminate some of the forces in play in trying to create more sustainable architecture. Whilst less glamorous than iconic new developments, and certainly a more tricky investment proposition, increasing the efficiency of the buildings we have already would surely be the most effective way of reducing the total energy use of our architecture.
Illustrations by Diana Boyle, Rooftop Illustrations
Anne began with a very simple but pertinent point made disarmingly clear with a few facts. In any given year, existing homes, as opposed to new builds, will account for over 99% of all homes. New builds will always only ever be a small percentage of the total housing stock. It is estimated that even by 2020 over 85% of the housing will be the same as that currently existing. These facts alone speak a simple truth that in order to substantially reduce the total energy use of our homes, by far the most crucial task is to refurbish the homes we have already rather than building new ones, even if they are ‘greener’. I was very happy to see Anne take this simple point as the starting point for her talk as I heard this same bit of common sense being expressed by a member of the audience at a previous talk on creating carbon zero housing and it struck me as being so obviously vital. Interestingly, as an expert on housing issues, Anne backed up her argument for focusing on refurbishment rather than new builds by talking about the material waste and social disruption of the demolition of housing estates, which are almost always unpopular amongst local residents.
Illustrations by Diana Boyle of 
